1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of water filtering systems and, more particularly, to a water filtering system incorporating a replaceable filter cartridge and a switching assembly particularly adapted for use in a refrigerator.
2. Discussion of the Invention
Providing water dispensers and automatic ice makers in household refrigerators has become extremely commonplace. In addition, there is a growing trend towards increasing the purity of all consumed water. For at least these reasons, it has heretofore been proposed in the art to incorporate a water purifying system in a refrigerator in order to filter the water supplied to a water dispenser and/or ice maker. Early proposed purifying systems of this type centered around providing a filtering unit between the water supply and the conduit entering the refrigerator. These systems were typically installed by service personnel as aftermarket add-on units. More recently, it has been proposed to incorporate filter assemblies during the overall manufacturing of refrigerators, while utilizing filters which can be fairly, readily accessed for replacement directly by consumers.
In developing an improved water filtering system, many factors need to be considered, including associated manufacturing costs, ease of use, manner of operation and reliability. Although various refrigerator water filtering assemblies are known in the art, many improvements are left to be made to simplify known filtering assemblies while increasing reliability, particularly with respect to the manner and ease in which the filter cartridges can be replaced. Based on the above, there exists a need in the art for an enhanced water filtering system, particularly a water filtering system for a refrigerator including an improved filter cartridge mounting arrangement. In addition, there is considered a need for an arrangement to signal the presence of removable components of a water filtering system, such as a replaceable filter cartridge.